Pesticide Information

RECENT NEWS: The PMRA has released it re-evaluation of 2,4-D in August of 2006 and has stated: "2,4-D does not pose unacceptable health risks and is an effective weed-control product when used in accordance with label directions." The full document of the extensive recent evaluation on this common weed killer product can be found here.

Also please read the April 2006 results of the European Commission, United States Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization and Health Canada review of 2,4-D which states: "the herbicide 2,4-D does not present a health risk to homeowners (including children and pets) farmers and pesticide applicators when product directions are followed." 2,4-D Review

Again, study after study shows this product to be safe when used according to directions!

Elliot Lake

A small but determined group in Elliot Lake has been trying to persuade city council to ban pesticides over the last few years. Local lawn care companies, and concerned business and property owners have made many presentations to council seeking to allow the continued safe use of these products. We believe it should be up to the individual homeowner to decide which safe and legal products they use on their own property. It should be the homeowners choice based on facts and information, not decided by a special interest group and their beliefs and opinions. To this end, council has passed a resolution which will allow the continued use of pesticides, but will promote the safe use, alternatives and reduced use of these products. I support this decision by council and have always advocated for the safe and minimum use of these products.

For good information on lawn care and reducing pesticide use, please check out this excellent Health Canada Link Healthy Lawns

Background

HUDSON, QUEBEC: A few years ago the town council in Hudson, Quebec, bowing to the pressure and misinformation of a small, but vocal environmental activist group, decided to ban the use of pesticides within their juristiction. Most of the information provided to them was not based on products used by the lawncare industry but on products that are not even registered for use in Canada, or have not been used for decades. Information provided by groups such as the Sierra Club and CAPE, ignored the more than 4000 studies done on the products which are safely used in Canada, but relied on heresay evidence, flawed studies and second-hand testimonials. Mainly scare tactics and worst-case senarios were used to get their point across.

The decision to ban pesticides was then challenged by lawn care companies on the grounds that a local council does not have the authority to stop people from using a federally and provincially licenced product, which has been tested and proven safe. They argued that the pesticide industry is the most regulated, tested and licensed industry in Canada. As well, Canada has some of the strictest guidlines on use and registration of pesticide products in the world. The Supreme court of Canada ruled that, although regulated and controlled at higher levels of government, a local goverment can over rule this, and effectively null and void legislation as they see fit. This may have implications for other federal laws which may be overturned at the municipal level, including the criminal code of Canada!

The Simple Truth

ALL PESTICIDES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL: Unfortunately, pesticides have become a four-letter word, and the target of extreme environmental activist groups. The biggest flaw in the information the general public is receiving about pesticides is that all pesticides are the same. This of course is no more truthful than saying that all the different fruit in the world tastes like apples. There are hundreds of differents pesticides used in Canada, everything from products that kill fungus, to those that kill rodents. Insecticides, herbicides etc. are as different in their composition as the pests they are designed to control. As such, we simply cannot use phrases such as 'pesticides cause cancer' or 'pesticides kill birds' because one cannot group all pesticides together in this way.

The truth is some pesticides are more harmful than others, just as some products under your kitchen sink are harmful, and others are not. The extremists tactic is to group the safe products used in the lawn care industry with harmful products that we don't use, have never been used in Canada, or have not been used for decades.

LICENSED SPRAYERS ARE SAFE: There is no industry in Canada as regulated as the pesticide industry, including pharmacuticals. In Ontario a lawn care owner must have a license to operate a spraying business and a separate license to actually do the spraying. All those assisting in a spraying operation must have license or be spraying technicians.

These licenses involve studying and completing Ministry of Environment tests on the proper identification of pests, mixing and application of pesticides, and above all proper safety and disposal of products. Licenses must be renewed on a yearly basis, special insurance requirements must be met, and fines for misuse or careless use of a product are heavy.

Pesticide applicators are required to post warning signs on lawns, use the safest and least possible amount of product to create a beneficial effect, and must apply the product in the safest manner possible.

STUDIES AND MORE STUDIES: For a product to be registered for use as a pesticide in Canada it most go through an overwelming battery of tests designed to determine the safety and effectiveness of the product. Bioaccumulation, half-life, leathal dose, modes of entry, soil and water movement, carcinigicity, and many other tests are completed over a ten year period, at different independent laboratories at a cost of millions of dollars before a product can be deemed safe.

The truth is, pesticides that cause the problems extremists talk about would simple never get registered for use in Canada. In fact many of the studies linking health problems and pesticides, used by extremists, are based on products that have never been used in Canada, were not used according to proper directions, or have been banned for decades. It is unfair to compare these kinds of chemicals to those used in lawn care.

LAWN CARE PRODUCTS: In the lawn care industry, the best way to maintain a weed free lawn, is to have a thick, green healthy lawn. However, weeds can become a problem on neglected lawns, those that have suffered insect damage or physical damage (foot traffic etc.). Fortunately we have an extremely safe and effective chemical for controlling broad-leaf weeds.

The main ingredient in Killex, Par3, Trillion and many other weed control products is 2,4-D. This is the main chemical used by the lawn care industry, and it's safety is of so little issue, that extremists seldom mention it in their anti-pesticide campaigns. Instead they dwell on pesticides as a whole, or on those that never have, and never will be used in the lawn care industry. 2,4-D has been used in Canada since 1947. It has been the focus of over 4000 studies which consistently conclude the following;

  • 2,4-D is non-carcinogenic, the EPA(in the States) the MOE(in Canada), the World Health Organisation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies around the world have time and time again listed this product as non-cancer causing and of showing no evidence of any possible carcinogenic links.

  • 2,4-D does not effect pets, studies where dogs were fed massive doses of 2,4-D over a two year period showed no development of any serious disease.

  • 2,4-D is non-persistant, 90 to 95% of the product dissipates in the top 6 inches of soil, into inert compounds such as carbon. It has a short half-life, breaking down rapidly, making it highly unlikely to move to water sources.

  • 2,4-D is non-bioaccumulative, it does not move up the food chain, or build up in fatty tissues.2,4-D is expelled readily through urine, becoming undedectible in an organism after a short time, even if the product was ingested.

  • 2,4-D is only mildly toxic, the MSDS on 2,4-D clearly shows, that even in it's purely concentrated form, massive amounts would need to be ingested to cause death. Many other product suach as toothpaste, aspirin, cough syrup, etc. are far more harmful.

    Links

    There are many good sites that have studies, summaries and basic information on pesticides.

    24d.org the complete and detailed summary on 2,4-D

    2,4-D factsheet in pfd format from Oregon State University, simple questions and answers on 2,4-D

    EPA web site the U.S.E.P.A pesticide website, very detailed information (American)

    Ministry of Environment info on the regulation process and licencing system

    pesticide advisory committee Ontario agency pesticide review committee

    University of Guelph Good info on studies and lawn care

    Canadian Centre for Toxicology yet more government information dispelling the myths of 2,4-D

    Healthy Lawns Health Canada site